Thoughts turn to Paris

Tour de France 2025

Saturday 26 July: Stage 20 Nantua - Pontarlier
By car: 518 km
By bike: 0 km

Walking: 8.5km

Tat: I missed most of the Caravan - I saw it from the other side of the lake.

But there is a microCaravan at the start line which can be quite generous. So I scored some Senseo coffee pods, a pair of Senseo socks, Senseo bag, Senseo cold brew bottle, TWO cans of Tourtel (évidemment), FDJ bush hat, and a Mondial Relay bag.

Journalists and cyclists often talk about how hard the third week of the Tour is. It’s only when you live the peripatetic life that you realise just how hard it is. It must be so, so more intense if you are a domestique - those riders that form the vast majority of the peloton who will never win a prize, and are there simply there to aid the possible victory of their team’s star rider.

It’s all the harder now the weather has changed just as we moved into the Alps. The last two stages finished at the top of mountains. Gone is the baking heat of the first two weeks, it was wet, it was cold. Everyone’s eyes are now turning to Paris, and with that in mind, there’s a very early start, as we’ve all got a five-hour (probably more like seven) transfer from the Jura to Paris.

I’ve decided to see the start again - it’s closest to me, and closest to Paris. If I see, say, the Intermediate Sprint, that adds an hour of racing time, and 45 minutes travel time. I think we all want to get this over now, and if I can get on the autoroute ahead of the vast majority of Tour traffic, all the better. 

Things don’t according to plan, even after studying maps and planning. Nantua is a really small commune in a beautiful setting by a lake, famous for its sauce - béchamel sauce with local crayfish added to create sauce Nantua. It was also the site where over 1000 WWII resistance fighters were deported, and leaders rounded up and shot. There’s a museum to their memory, and an evocative lakeside memorial. 

But being a small town, there are only a few access roads, and you’re at the mercy of traffic management unless you have the magic Tour de France car accreditation stickers. I didn’t and ended up with a 30 minute walk. But I did get a spot right by the (ceremonial) start line.

 After that, and a small contretemps with a gendarmesse, it was on the road and head for Paris. The traffic built up as I approached the City of Lights, and I didn’t get to my hotel until 8pm, and 518 km of driving. It’s been a long day. 

What is the ASO ?

For all they like to complain about high taxes, burdensome administration and onerous regulations, the French are a very industrious nation in all senses of the word. Eight of the top 20 European countries are French, and two of the most successful - Hermès and LVMH are still family owned/controlled.

Family ownership or control, even of publicly-listed companies is common in France. LVMH, is owned by the Arnault family (Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moët et Chandon, Hennessey, Pernod Ricard); Hermès (Hermès family); Chanel (Wertheimer family), the Mulliez family (Auchan supermarkets, Decathlon, Leroy Merlin); the Pinault family (Gucci, Bottega Venata and other fashion brands); the Dassault family (Dassault Aviation); the Mellerio family (Maison Mellerio jewellery); L’Oréal (Bettencourt family), and a host of other companies. It’s estimated family-owned concerns contribute around 60 per cent of France’s GDP. 

So what has all this to do with the Tour de France ? With such prominence, you may expect the Tour to be run by the government, or the national sporting body (FFC - Fédération Française de Cyclisme) in much the same way as happens in the UK. But look closely on Tour publicity, and you will see the letters ASO - Amaury Sport Organisation. 

The Tour originated as a publicity stunt for the newspaper L’Auto (partly funded by one of the Michelin brothers), ironically against its rival Le Vélo. A new newspaper took over after Second World War - L’Équipe, and this newspaper was taken over by press baron Émilien Amaury in 1968. L’Équipe became the iconic sports newspaper, and because of that was instrumental in the development of many cycling races (now including Vuelta a España), golf, Paris Marathon, sailing, and motorsports such as the Paris-Dakar Rally. ASO was formed in 1992 to control all these interests.

ASO is owned by Marie-Odile Amaury (aged 81), the wife of Émilien’s late son Philippe, with their son Jean-Étienne (45) now running ASO. The family is notoriously secretive, but the 2023 accounts for parent company Groupe Amaury showed a turnover of over 500€ million, an estimated profit around 30% of turnover, and around 20€ million each in dividends being distributed to the various family owners. 

Running the Tour de France is a profitable business.

What’s this all about ? New readers start here

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